Grand Teton Tips and Highlights
Written: Aug 03 '06
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Pros: Spectacular Mountains, gorgeous Lakes, Stunning scenery in a relatively compact area.
Cons: None. Combine with Yellowstone and be prepared to take a zillion pictures, all great.
The Bottom Line: Grand Teton is a scenery powerhouse--don't miss it if you're going to the Yellowstone area.
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| rljtexas's Full Review: Grand Teton National Park |
My family of three (me, wife, 15-year old son) just returned from a nine day visit combining Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks (see Yellowstone for that portion--but by all means try to combine these two adjacent parks into your own visit!!).
Rather than reiterate how beautiful these extraordinary parks are, and how worthwhile they are to visit (see all the other excellent reviews and guidebooks), I'll confine my input to the particular personal highlights that might not be covered elsewhere. Plan your trip and itinerary to incorporate all the standard stops and sights, and use these tips to embellish or adjust.
How long should I plan for a visit?
Grand Teton is much more compact than Yellowstone. While you could enjoy a week or more basking in (or camping and hiking around) the beauty of this park, you will not feel cheated if you have have at least a full day, preferably two, to enjoy it. We spent two full days in the Park (we spent the first and last night of our vacation at our airport gateway town, Jackson. Jackson is a great little upscale, Western-themed town on the southern edge of Grand Teton -- I'll include a few tips on Jackson here).
Where to stay?
We spent two nights in an upstairs Lakeside Retreat at the Signal Mountain Lodge. Our picture window and balcony looked across Jackson Lake to the spectacular line of the Teton range--undoubtedly one of the most beautiful views in the world. The Retreat had a separate bedroom, kitchenette and a sofa bed in the living area, which gave us a little welcome elbow room. Not fancy, but quite comfortable. I highly recommend the SML - it has a nice restaurant as well. The only real competition we noted was the beautiful Lake Jackson Lodge, one of the nicest National Park lodges I've seen. Not having seen the rooms, a comparison would be unfair. I suspect they would be a great choice. Make sure you stop in whether you stay there or not. The cute 50's-era counter stool diner was a great place for lunch. Reserve lodgings early!
In Jackson, our first night was spent at the in-town Trapper Inn, which was adequate--an acceptable back-up, but not otherwise recommended. Our final night was spent at the Best Western Lodge at Jackson Hole (not to be confused with the Jackson Hole Lodge). Also close to (but not walkable) the cute downtown square area, it was otherwise superior and worthy of a recommendation. Jackson itself is worth at least an afternoon--it has a lot of tourist-oriented shopping and a huge number of mostly western-themed art galleries, along with a variety of bars and restaurants (the pizza at Mile High Pizza deserves a recommendation!).
Special things not to miss:
We had a fine and memorable breakfast al fresco on the picnic tables at Dornan's, at the south/Moose end of the park. If you're coming from Jackson, stop here!
We chose to hike around Jenny Lake to Hidden Falls, and took the ferry back. A very nice hike, and the falls were beautiful (better than some reviews/descriptions had led me to expect!). Here again, various descriptions labeled this hike "easy", but this should be read "moderate" unless you're already a hiker. Glad we only hiked halfway around. The climb from the dock to the falls is no piece of cake, either, so anyone older, or with young children, or any slight mobility challenges--be warned-we saw quite a few under-prepared folks struggling.
We rented a runabout at the Signal Mountain Lodge Marina and spent a great two hours motoring around the lake. Highly recommend that you get out on the water!
The drive to the top of Signal Mountain is a must-do. Beautiful views from the top and wildlife sightings along the way (look for moose in/around the lily-pad covered marshy pond on your right about a third of the way up--a mother and calf were easy to see without getting too close).
In Jackson Hole, we splurged on a morning hot air balloon flight with Wyoming Balloon Company. A true highlight of an already spectacular trip. The staff was great: efficient, friendly and fun, the flight was extraordinarily beautiful. Worth it (really!)
We took the aerial tram to the top of Rendezvous Mountain (leaves from the Teton Village ski resort area near Jackson). It's closing in October 2006, but if you read this before then, I recommend it for the scenery and fun.
Things to skip:
The Museum of the American Indian at the north end of the Park was unimpressive, and I must say the Ranger-led tour, unlike every other such tour I've taken in many National Parks, was a boring and disjointed ramble, poorly delivered. Give the Rangers a try, nonetheless--they're usually great!
Other advice:
By all means, spend a day (hopefully more) in Grand Teton National Park if you're lucky enough to head to the Yellowstone area -- it has a mountain beauty that differs from and compliments the Yellowstone experience. It's user-friendly (follow the drive and take in the overlooks) and gorgeous.
Recommended:
Yes
Best time to go: June-August
Recommended for: Anybody
Review Topic: Overview
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Epinions.com ID:
rljtexas
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Reviews written: 7
Trusted by: 2 members
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